(too lazy to edit post) I agree with Kidd- this IS my favorite AU of all!!! And I think it's also very ironic that Vader is rebuilding the Jedi Order, and that, yes, Anakin is probably the best Jedi Master b/c he's seen both Sides.
Another thing, I can't wait for the last post, but I dread the last post with apprehension. Tis story can't end!!! but anywayz, UP

I can't belive it's almost over. How long have we been reading this? Almost a year? I can't remember anymore. I put off starting By the Grace of Lady Vader cause I saw how many chapters there were already and I didn't think I had the time to get caught up in such a long and complicated story. I'm so glad I did. I've sort of slipped behind in posting, okay so I can't remember the last time I did, but I've kept reading. It feels weird to know that one day I won't see anymore new posts here, it was one of those things that was always there if I got bored. I don't know what I'm going to do now. This story was amazing and one of the best I've ever read.

I think EVERYONE will miss reading this story. Brilliant work ladies, written to perfection!
*~Kris~*
P.S. HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!
safe trick-or-treating for all the little ones, and for the adults; safe partying, and... don't drink & drive...lol

After tonight I'll have to console myself with the possibilities of a "Coming Home" or FH continuation ... *sniff* but it's been a great ride here. You two have written beautifully, commendably. Know this.

(Nervously pokes head around the curtain. Please let it be all right...)

-----------
The clothes had belonged to Kenobi.

Leia had asked Seek and Amee to go out to Kenobi's hut and have his things packed and sent to Theed. She had wanted his datapads and books, his holos and his artifacts from the Temple. Amee--at least Vader assumed it was Amee--had decided that the clothes should come as well, and she had altered them herself to fit Vader's larger frame.

For a long time, Vader had not opened the parcel in which she had bound them, though Leia had encouraged him to. There had been little point to it until today. The most disturbing parts of his armor were the ones that were integrated into his cybernetic respiratory system, the ones he could not remove.

Until today.

Tinera Kei had been overjoyed to declare her lung cloning experiments a failure and clear them out of the resp lab. Before coming to Theed, she had worked with the miners on Bespin to develop cybernetic replacements for lungs damaged by the gas, and she had a viable prototype nearly ready, though ignored for three years while she worked with biotechnology. Commander Dihave had asked to be reassigned to her, to offer his technical assistance. (Palace gossip, of which Vader had become morbidly aware in the long and empty days since Tatooine, held that he had offered her more than technical assistance, but Vader had seen no evidence of it.) Between them, they had been able to complete the prototype, test it on four willing patients, and take it into mass production.

Vader had not initially planned to make use of the new technology himself. He had a working respirator, and there were certainly those who would need the new machinery more. There were certain cosmetic improvements--the filtration system was built into the neck gear, leaving the face free--but they seemed unimportant. But

(Stop hiding, Ani... Stop pretending.)

her voice had recurred to him more and more often as the months went on. He could get out of the suit, out from behind the mask--stop hiding behind the symbols she had hated. He remembered her frustrated tears when she'd come to him after her nightmare, and her pleas just before she...

Just before.

Stop hiding, Ani.

There was one other thing he had taken note of as he observed her patients coming up from their convalescence: Tinera's system had several redundancies, and independently functioning parts. He would never have to be fully helpless during maintenance again.

So he had come here, to the laboratory. He was the last patient, and he had taken pains to assure Tinera that she was not obligated to perform this service. She had nodded soberly, then begun her examination.

It wasn't just the respirator. The structure of the suit had been unified, and other adjustments needed to be made. She covered his legs with a faux skin--he had objected to it as a mere cosmetic touch, but she insisted that it was protective--and re-wired his vocoder to respond to a working flow of air, more akin to a natural voice. Implants had needed to be placed in his ears, and corrective surgery had to be performed on his eyes. She wanted to re-cover his arms, but he felt reticent about it. They would be largely protected by sleeves, and he felt that he was being greedy with her time already. Nor would he allow her to cosmetically remove the scarring on his face and head.

He was who he was.

The final implantation--the lungs themselves--had been last night, and when he'd awakened from the anesthetic, he had drawn breath through his nose and mouth, and felt it pass into his body for processing, and he had nearly wept at the sensation.

But the clothes... the clothes were a different story. They meant something. He had rejected the traditional garb even before he'd left the Temple. To take it on now? It was a decision of somewhat more importance than what sort of covering Dr. Kei had chosen to stretch over the cybernetics.

That was absolutely beautiful. A well-written and deeply moving ending to a fantastic story. It's sad to see how much Anakin has lost but at long last he has turned his attention to the future. With Leia at his side, there is hope for him. Great job!

Ladies, you both have done an amazing job with this story. It's rare that a sequel tops the original but you have both managed to do so. This series is quite simply the best fanfiction series of all time.

It is the end of the New Era of Lady Vader. But it is the continuation of the legendary writing careers of the great ami-padme and JG!

With that said, I'm going to try and steady myself and say something coherent. I don't know how capable of that I'll be.

First off, that was just beautiful. Gorgeous. I don't think either of you can ever know just how much this story has affected me...how many low points it's carried me through...how emotional it's gotten me to be. I've loved this story -- learned from it, and loved it, and enjoyed it, and somehow gotten *into *it more than most pieces I ever read. This was sheer brilliance -- sheer, powerful, brilliance -- and I can't ever say that enough.

Alright. Now that I'm not leaving tearstains over the keyboard anymore, I can go onto other points...

I loved that Vader was out of the suit and in Kenobi's robes. I just loved that. And I loved that he looked up at the sky, and that he could laugh, and be comfortable and happy with Leia. That was just beautiful. And I liked how he dealt with Piett, and his reluctance to change certain things -- so sharp of you to have him wait to be the last patient, and for him to be reluctant to teach. Showing us his monument to Amidala and Luke was lovely, too --touching, really -- an elderly someone I knew well died today, so it meant alot to me. Gosh...I'm crying again...I'm going to have to come back later and make a coherent reply, because I *know* I make no sense at all...

And don't hide, JG. This was the most beautiful and satisfying conclusion you could have ever come up with...it was astonishing, breathtaking, tearjerking, beautiful, sensitive, lovely...

That was absolutely beautiful, and oh so touching. I think this story is tied with another for my absolute favorite. Ladies, I doff my cap to you both. This was marvellous. I can't believe it's over! What will I do now? Anyway, thanks to you both for writing this wonderful story!

I can't say what my favorite part of this two-part epilogue was...that Lando will likely be Chancellor, or that Han is High Admiral, or that Vader/Anakin is out of his suit, into Jedi robes, taking the time to be kind to Piett, or that Leia is echoing Shmi yet again...awww, the ending taken as a whole is my favorite part!

Well, this last post, like the dozen or more before, had me crying almost immediately. Everything is perfect -- Obi Wan's clothes, Vader's restrained way of helping Piett, his fear of letting go of the mask, the suit, the isolation -- all touching the ideal pitch of emotion. This was a GREAT effort of amazing quality, and I'll regret not waiting for the posts on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. A huge bravo to you two.